Imposing the law

Abstract

In the previous chapter we saw that, by the end of the sixteenth century, England had acquired a dense and complex system of law enforcement. But how adequately was this machinery utilized? Was the law rigorously applied? Were offenders, as one might reasonably expect, routinely brought to justice? If not why, given the quite sophisticated mechanism of law enforcement, were criminals not regularly hounded down? These are the questions that will concern us in this chapter.